A robot is generally an electro-mechanical machine guided by a computer or electronic programming. Mobile robots have the capability to move around in their environment and are not fixed to one physical location. An example of a mobile robot that is in common use today is an automated guided vehicle or automatic guided vehicle (AGV). An AGV is generally a mobile robot that follows markers or wires in the floor, or uses a vision system or lasers for navigation. Some robots use a variety of sensors to obtain data about their surrounding environments, for example, for navigation or obstacle detection and person following. Moreover, some robots use imaging sensors to capture still images or video of objects in their surrounding environments.
High quality video conferencing using mobile devices, tablets, and portable computers has enabled telepresence robots to provide a better sense of remote physical presence for communication and collaboration in the office, home, school, etc. when one cannot be there in person. There have been two primary approaches that both utilize videoconferencing on a display: 1) desktop telepresence robots, which typically mount a phone or tablet on a motorized desktop stand to enable the remote person to look around a remote environment by panning and tilting the display; and 2) drivable telepresence robots, which typically contain a display (integrated or separate phone or tablet) mounted on a roaming platform. These approaches for video conferencing with the use of telepresence robots have failed to provide a remote user with an experience similar to or better than an actual presence at the remote environment.